Neuro Feed Back Treatment, Counseling & Therapy
Greengate Intensive > Serving Flagstaff, Sedona, Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix, Tucson & clients from all over the United States.
For many years, Americans have been living within the “two tool” system of health care.
Our only options seemed to be surgery or drugs. Yet there have been other options to treating what many physicians thought were permanent, disabling disorders. Neurofeedback is one such therapy.
The brain sends messages to the body through electrical impulses called brain waves. When brain waves are disturbed, abnormal impulses are transmitted, creating imbalances within the body. Neurofeedback provides a way to guide the brain back into the balance it naturally seeks. It is a safe, non-invasive therapy. It is a learning process, thus repetition is necessary for the brain to develop new pathways.
Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the head, allowing the brain wave pattern to be displayed on a computer screen. As the waves are displayed, the client learns how to modify the pattern, thus inhibiting problematic brain wave activity. Through repetition, the brain patterns become modified and the client will notice a change in the symptomatology that brought them into treatment. The computer is digitally filtered, providing rapid, accurate feedback.
Green Gate Intensive uses a neurofeedback system developed by the late Dr. Margaret Ayers. This system provides accurate, real time feedback so that brain waves are displayed on the screen within one one-thousandth of a second. This rapid feedback presents a raw pattern so that problems within the electrical firing of the brain are quickly identified and then treated.
Many addicts have experienced accidents and traumas that alter the way their brains fire. This includes open and closed head injuries, high fever, hypoxia (loss of oxygen to the brain), and psychological trauma. When this occurs, the brain waves do not fire within the correct voltage range. These types of accidents and traumas actually slow the brain, creating suppression of the central nervous system.
Many times after an accident or trauma, people experience symptoms of low-grade depression, anxiety and irritability. They may anger very easily. They may experience sleep disturbances. Many times they are accused of “malingering,” meaning that they are faking being ill so that they achieve some secondary gain. Malingering is often response to head injury or trauma, and is judged severely by the medical establishment and society in general. Since drugs don’t effectively address the resulting symptoms of head injury, there is not much relief available for those who have these types of problems.
Substance abuse and food addiction are often a response to physical or psychological traumas. The addict uses the substance to attempt to achieve homeostasis, or balance. The drive to achieve homeostasis is very common among all species. For example, dogs don’t typically eat grass, but they do when they are ill. Often, when there has been some type of assault to the brain, young people, even around age 10, will begin to experiment with substances. Marijuana appears to be a popular drug that helps to modulate brain activity. It isn’t so much that they have inherited a “gene” that makes them addicts, but rather, they may be experiencing great discomfort, being unable to focus, concentrate, learn, sleep or enjoy life. Illicit drugs often are used to help mitigate these symptoms. Of interest, symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD) are often seen in these young people. Many times their mothers smoked or did drugs while pregnant, creating a hypoxic environment in the womb. This may lead to changes in the way the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) functions.
Neurofeedback can help the addict reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, insomnia and post-traumatic stress. The addict can be taught to develop alpha activity in the brain, creating an ability to soothe the self, thus reducing a drive for substance use and abuse. Waves associated with both physical and psychological trauma can be suppressed, creating permanent change in the brain and a reduction in symptoms that were previously addressed with the substance of choice.
At Green Gate Intensive, the initial neurofeedback assessment is included in the cost. It allows the therapist to understand how the client’s brain is firing and how to help mitigate symptoms associated with brain wave activity.
Neuropathways EEG Imaging TM , developed by Dr. Margaret Ayers, allows for fast and effective treatment of symptoms that often interfere with a full, satisfying recovery from alcohol, drug and food addiction.
We are happy to discuss this therapeutic approach with you when you call Green gate Intensive – 866-79 SOBER
24 HOUR HOTLINE - 866-79-SOBER